Suction cleaning device with a surface-agitating bar



J. F. HUBER Oct. 9, 1951 SUCTION CLEANING DEVICE WITH A SURFACE-AGITATING BAR s Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 25, 1947 FIGJ.

ATTORNEY Get. 9, 1951 J, F HUBER 2,570,679

SUCTION CLEANING DEVICE WITH A SURFACE-AGITATING BAR Filed April 25. 1947- 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 36 33 2 33 3& 35

1- 45 Iss u /7. 3"

ATTORNEY Oct. 9, 1951 J. F. HUBER 2,570,679

SUCTION CLEANING DEVICE WITH A SURFACE-AGITATING BAR Filed April 25, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 aw. 55m

ATTO RN EY Patentecl Oct. 9, 1951 UNITED STATE SUCTION CLEANING DEVICE WITH A SURFACE-AGITATING BAR John Frederick Huber, New York, N. Y. Application April 25', 1947, Serial No. 743,982

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to cleaning apparatus. Among the objects of the invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner having provision for moving or displacing foreign matter on material to be cleaned to facilitate its removal and for more thoroughly and quickly cleaning materials such as floor coverings by disturbing the disposition or lay of the pile, whereby normally underlying foreign particles are exposed to the draft of air entering the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner. v

Another object of the invention is to provide in combination with a vacuum cleaner a bar having a furrowed edge adapted to rest upon material being cleaned and cause movement of the engaged portion of the material in directions lateral to the direction of movement of the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner and within access of air flowing to the nozzle of the cleaner. The furrow-edged bar is so supported as to provide resilient pressure upon a surface being cleaned so as to be effective for the cleaning of a variety of floor coverings differing in weight, materials, depth and compactness of pile, as well as other materials having relatively unbroken surfaces.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved vacuum cleaner having a bar with relatively inflexible projections separated by furrows spaced lengthwise of the bar and mounted adjacent the nozzle of a motor-powered vacuum cleaner, and an arrangement whereby the bar may be reciprocated sufficiently to splay the pile or nap of a fabric being cleaned.

Other objects of the present invention will be hereinafter set forth in the accompanying specification and claims and demonstrated by the drawings which show by way of illustration preferred embodiments of the principle of the invention and the best modes in which I have contemplated applying that principle.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portable vacuum cleaner with a portion thereof brokenaway;

Fig. 2 is a partial view of the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner shown in Fig. 1 as viewed from the rear;

Fig. 3 is a sectional 'view Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view Fig. 2;

on line 3- 3 of on line 4-4 of Fig. 6 illustrates a side elevation, partly in section, of the nozzle and conduit of a vacuum cleaner of the type wherein the fan driving motor is mounted on a carriage which is remote from the nozzle;

on line 5-5 of Fig. 7 is a view of the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner shown in Fig. 6 as viewed from the rear;

and

Figf8 is a plan of the bar-operating motor shown in Figs. 6 and 7. a

The vacuum cleaner illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, is of the portable type and includes a casing 20 for a motor, a housing 2! which encloses a fan or impeller 22 and a conduit 23.

Conduit 23 is provided with an opening 24 which constitutes the mouth of the nozzle into which air is drawn. The cleaner is supported on front rollers 25 and on a rear roller (not shown), the latter of which is so mounted as to permit adjustment of the spacing of the nozzle from surface 26 upon which the cleaner rests. The abovedescribed vacuum cleaner is intended to represent any standard type of portable cleaner in which a, fan-operating motor is contained.

It is desired to cause movement or agitation of the surface of the material being cleaned in the vicinity of the mouth of the nozzle so that the air being taken into the nozzle will have access to the disturbed surface. This is accomplished by a furrow-edged bar 38, Figs. 1 m 5, inclusive, which is adapted to rest upon the surface of the material being cleaned and is reciprocated by the fan motor, as willzbe-descrlbed hereinafter.

The lower edge of the bar 38 has a series of projections 29, 30, 3|, 32, etc., which are spaced from each other lengthwise of the bar by furrows 33, 34, 35, etc. The furrows and the projections are pitched at an angle with respect to the lengthwise dimension of the bar 38, as shown in Fig. 3. This is particularly desirable when the movement of the bar is restricted to a plane normal or substantially perpendicular to the surface being treated. With the furrows and projections thus disposed the pile of a floor covering or nap or other material is given a lateral motion as the vacuum cleaner is propelled over a floor in the usual manner.

The projections and furrows of adjacent segments of equal length are pitched oppositely as shown in Fig. 3, in which the junction of adjacent segments is shown at 36. By so arranging the projections and furrows in at least two equal lengths of segments the reaction of the pile on the bar is balanced. The bar I8 may be made of any suitable rigid and hard material such as fiber board, hard rubber, wvood, metal,

and plastic material.

-5. inclusive, provides for reciprocating the furrow-edged bar by power derived from the fanoperating motor. r The nozzle 31 is so constructed as to enclose the furrow-edged bar 36.

The rear portion of the. nozzle is provided with an enclosed space 39 formed by two depending lips 40 and 4|. Lip 49 constitutes the rear edge of the opening of the nozzle 31.

Bar 38 is supported within a channel member 42 by means of a pair of pins which are fixedly supported in the furrow-edged bar 38. One of the pins 43 is illustrated in Fig. 2. These pins extend through elongated slots 44 in the flanges of channel member 42. The arrangement is such that the bar may be reciprocated with respect to the channel member 42.

Channel member 42 is supported on the nozzle by means of a pair of screws, one of which is illustrated at 45 in Fig. 2. Each of the screws is firmly engaged by a non-rotatable nut 46, Fig. 4, and extends through vertical slots 41 and 48 in lips 40 and 4|, respectively, which limit the vertical movement of the channel member 42 with respect to the nozzle. For urging the channel member 42 and its supported furrow-edged bar downwardly, a pair of leaf springs are provided,-one of these leaf springs 49 being il1ustrated in Fig. 2. The springs are attached to the channel member 42 and bear upon surface 50 of the nozzle, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the furrow-edged bar is free to be moved vertically and longitudinally. For reciprocating the bar longitudinally a pin is provided which extends rearwardly from the bar as shown in Fig. l. The pin is engaged by a bifurcation 52 at the end of a lever 53 which is pivoted at 54. The upper end of the lever is provided with a slot 55 which is engaged by a crank pin 56 carried by a disc 51. Disc 51 is driven through a speed-reducing mechanism 58 which transmits motion from the shaft 59 of the fan-operating motor. As the vacuum cleaner is moved over a surface, the projections along the lower edge of bar 38 encounter and displace particles of foreign matter and also cause splaying of the pile of a floor covering and thereby enable thorough cleaning. The reciprocation of the bar assures thorough agitation of the pile durin a cleaning operation.

The vacuum cleaner illustrated in Figs. 6, '7 and 8 is of the type in which the motor which drives the impeller is mounted on a carriage or sled remote from the handle 60 and the nozzle 6|. The handle 60 is in the form of a conduit in continuation of the nozzle. In this embodiment of the invention, the furrow-edged bar 62 and its supporting means, including the channelshaped member 63 are mounted within the nozzle in the manner above described with respect to the modification shown in Figs. 1-5, inclusive.

The bar 62 is reciprocated within channel member 63 by a motor 64 which is attached to the rear wall of the nozzle by means of screws 65, 66 and 61. The motor is provided with a speedreducing mechanism 68 which rotates a crank disc 69 carrying a crank pin 10. The crank pin engages a slot H in arm 12 of a bell crank lever 13. The bell'crank lever is mounted on a pivot screw '74, which is fastened to the nozzle. The bifurcated arm of the bell crank lever engages a pin 16 which extends from the furrowedged bar 62. Actuation of the motor causes the bar to be reciprocated through the described mechanism.

I 4 What is claimed is: 1. In a suction cleaning device having an elongated nozzle and a conduit through which air is exhausted from the nozzle, the combination with said nozzle, of a bar having a plurality of projections formed between successive furrows in the lower edge of the bar, said bar being located with its lower edge adjacent the opening of said nozzle for cooperation therewith, a channel memberv for containing said bar, said channel member being mounted for movement on said nozzle adjacent the opening of said nozzle, means carried by said channel member for supporting said bar and for permitting longitudinal movement of the bar with respect to said channel member, guiding means on said nozzle for limiting the movement of said channel member with respect to said nozzle in a direction towards and away from the nozzle opening and substantially perpendicular to the direction of longitudinal movement of said bar, resilient means associated with said nozzle and said channel member for urging said channel member and said bar in a direction substantially normal to the plane of said nozzle and towards the surface being cleaned during acleaning operation, and means for reciprocating said bar longitudinally of itself.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the bar consists of a rigid rod of a suitable rigid and hard material.

3. In a suction cleaning device having an elongated nozzle and a conduit through which air is exhausted from the nozzle, the combination with said nozzle, of a bar having a plurality of projections formed between successive furrows in the lower edge of the bar, a channel member for containing said bar, means carried by said chans nel member for supporting said bar and for permitting longitudinal movement of the bar with respect to said channel member, a housing adjacent said nozzle and having open communication therewith at its lower edge, means associated with said housing and having connection with said channel member for restrictin movement of said channel member towards and away from the nozzle opening in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of longitudinal movement of said bar, resilient means acting between said housing and said channel member for urging said channel member outwardly of said housing in a direction substantially normal to the plane of said nozzle, and means for reciproeating said bar longitudinally of itself.

JOHN FREDERICK HUBER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 800,292 Gunderson Sept. 26, 1905 930,134 Blackall Aug. 3, 1909 1,180,679 Thompson Apr. 25, 1916 1,296,121 Rosenfield Mar. 4, 1919 1,336,760 Stewart Apr. 13, 1920 1,771,992 Brehm Aug. 5, 1930 1,940,954 -Kohler Dec. 26, 1933 1,953,350 Kitto Apr. 3, 1934 1,992,238 Rose Feb. 26, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 437,951 Germany Dec. 17, 1929 805,369 France Aug. 22, 1936 

